Over the years, animal cruelty and mistreatment have increased worldwide, attaining a peak of worrying statistics that prove how society has normalized horrendous habits under the excuse that they’re simply not humans.
Since 2005, Switzerland has enforced Article 26 of The Animal Welfare Act which determines that anyone who willfully mistreats or forces extreme labor on an animal will suffer from a fine or up to three years of jail. Yet, according to SwissInfo, on average in 2018, most people were let off with a fine of 500 CHF for animal cruelty when the upper limit is 20,000 CHF. Even in a country like Switzerland, where the dignity of an animal is deeply valued, there is still work to be done since most people still turn a blind eye and cower away from the problem.
A humanitarian called Dr Albert Schweitzer once stated; “Anyone who has accustomed himself to regard the life of any living creature as worthless, is in danger of arriving also at the idea of worthless human lives.” In fact, the more we allow for this aggressive behavior towards animals, the more we encourage a bad mentality for the new generations to come.
Hence, throughout this article, I’ll be exploring some of the different types of animal abuse in different countries, while also addressing solutions. If you love and care for animals and their safety, you might want to continue reading to deepen your knowledge. So, how can you help?
Hoarding
Hoarders aren’t simply people who have too many animals, but individuals who harm animals in the form of hidden abuse, sometimes due to mental illness or instability. Briefly, Animal Hoarding is a practice that mistakes abuse for animal sheltering, where hoarders accumulate a large number of animals to hold in horrific conditions - living a life that consists of poor hygiene, scarce food and in awful physical conditions (wounded and/or dying).
For example, there was a case in September 2023, where a woman in Arizona was discovered to be keeping more than 50 puppies in her house, some dead or wounded, while the others were severely malnourished.
As of 2023, in the United States, over 250,000 animals are suffering physically and emotionally because of hoarding.
Beating
Throughout the world and the many years we’ve allowed this behavior, beating has become one of the most pertinent and broadly-used ways of forcing an animal into “discipline”. It’s a form of intentional abuse, harming the animal physically and emotionally, while making them accustomed to this kind of treatment, calling it animal discipline and training.
Even though it is a well known form of abuse, it’s rather hard to actually find the abusers and locate the victims because it usually happens within a household or a domestic environment. However, it remains the type of abuse which can lead to death most quickly, through the drastic weakening of the animal.
For example, the known cases of animal cruelty in South East London only reach 800 cases because most of them still remain unknown. Following that, in the United States, about 10 million animals die from different types of animal cruelty and abuse each year.
Nevertheless, in most countries around the world, governmental parties have implemented laws where the abuse can result in legal ramification and consequences.
Figure 1: Legislations Against Animal Cruelty Worldwide (Global Animal Law)
Animal Experimentation
And finally, in today’s world where cosmetics and lab products are made in mass production, animals are unfortunately often the “lab rats”. A drastic number of labs all across the world utilize animal experimentation as a way of evaluating the effectiveness and safety of a product before putting them on the market, especially in the cosmetics industry.
In fact, according to Humane Society International, about 115 million animals are used for testing and lab experiments each year worldwide. This is because the companies using animals for these purposes can produce better and more reliable data, as it makes the process more efficient timewise and cost wise, and helps companies with the legal restrictions to sell certain products, under the excuse that it’s been tested on a living thing.
However, the consequences for the animals from this approach can range between drug addiction and death. They can end up suffering from addiction, are forced to ingest toxic substances, can become blind or deaf, are burned and stapled, as well as being infected with viruses which can turn out fatal.
How to Help
Whilst most of us might not come in direct contact with animals suffering from abuse, it doesn’t mean we can’t help. Here is what you can do:
Looking out for the signs of animal abuse in everyday life, whether it be…
The animal itself: severe malnourishment and underweight appearance, untreated injuries, matted fur, unprovoked aggression or limping.
The animal’s environment: lack of water and food, lack of shelter, being in a dirty and dangerous environment, or extremely small spaces.
And finally, volunteering at local animal shelters can be of immense help for the animals and our society, giving a prime example of the correct behavior towards animals: one of respect and kindness towards all kinds of animals.
I was a volunteer at SOS Animaux Pays de Gex, which is an animal shelter dealing with cats and dogs, because they needed a few extra hands to take care of the animals. There, not only can you volunteer to help out the shelter, but you can adopt animals in need of a loving family.
By taking initiative and attempting to help, even in its simplest form, we can eradicate the common mentality of some part of society who deem animal mistreatment as normal or doable. Instead, it’s setting the correct example and starting line for the generations to come, making sure that no animal has to grow up in fear of being abused simply for living.
Comments